Hank’s Unraveling Chairmanship

This flow traces how Hank’s improvisational tenure as interim chair turns a deadlocked department into a personal and institutional crisis, then forces him to choose what kind of power he wants.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Nosebleed in Committee

The Meeting Turns Physical Provocation As interim chair, William Henry Devereaux, Jr. needles Gracie DuBois during a dispute over a poetry candidate. His jokes expose the department’s petty territorial habits but also keep him from treating its anxieties seriously. Consequence Gracie’s spiral notebook hooks his nostril, turning an academic argument into a grotesque injury. The incident establishes the style of his chairmanship: provocation, embarrassment, and real consequences arriving together.

The Budget Ultimatum

A Comic Threat Goes Public The Goose At the Campus Duck Pond, an angry goose and a television camera combine with Hank’s growing frustration over uncertain composition funding. He takes the animal by the neck and demands a budget on camera. A Performance with Stakes His promise to kill a duck each day is meant as satire, yet the spectacle gives administrators, colleagues, and viewers a reason to treat him as dangerous. The joke makes him briefly famous without giving him control over what happens next.

The Layoff Bargain

An Invitation to Choose Sides The Plan Dickie Pope tells Hank that the administration must prepare a plan to cut staff and spending by twenty percent. He offers Hank influence over criteria that could shape who is considered indispensable. Refusal to Make a List The offer appeals to Hank’s appetite for mischief and tempts him with the authority to protect friends or punish rivals. He neither supplies names nor clearly reassures his colleagues, leaving an empty space that suspicion quickly fills.

Recall from Above

A Chair Removed Suspicion Hardens As rumors spread that Hank has made a deal with the administration, Finny, the English Department Instructor, organizes support for recalling him. Hank stays away from the meeting and hides in the ceiling crawlspace, listening as colleagues debate his conduct. A Procedural Surprise The vote removes him as chair. Rachel’s copy of the department’s operating rules reveals that the recall passes under the applicable threshold, while Hank’s folded message reaches the table just after the tally and cannot undo the result.

Power Declined

The Larger Office A New Route Upward After learning that Jacob Rose is poised to become chief executive officer, Hank is offered the dean’s position. Accepting could turn his dissent and troublemaking into institutional authority. A Different Choice Hank declines, despite the appeal of greater power and a wider field for mischief. His refusal makes the chair’s removal less a defeat than a decision about what he will not become.

early April, during a personnel meeting

the afternoon after the committee meeting

the following Friday, at Hank’s meeting with Dickie Pope

the next Monday afternoon, during the department meeting

near the end, during Jacob Rose’s offer of the deanship